Playground and Facility Facelift!

Entreamigos is hard at work this summer creating a whole new experience for visitors and students!

This project started with a few interesting impulses that happened right around the same time…

In May, we received a visit from a business man from Mexico City who had visited San Pancho several times. He met us for the first time, a little upset, flustered, “I have been to San Pancho many times and I never knew that this existed, how can it be that something so important is so hidden?” I guess that we never thought about it that way, Entreamigos seems really BIG and really visible to all of us but if you just drive into San Pancho and head to the beach, it could very well be that you don’t even notice Entreamigos. This same gentleman, Hugo Sanabrio of the image design company CAMPEN in Mexico City, offered to do all he could to help us re-design and bring to life the street frontage at Entreamigos. For the next several weeks he came out to San Pancho, met with our staff and consulted on the project.

and at the same time…

We were struggling with an ongoing situation of day laborers buying their beer at the store across the street from

look closely…

Entreamigos and then taking advantage of the shade and playground equipment to sit and socialize. The increase in construction work in San Pancho and the reality that most of these laborers are from out of town made running them off or kindly asking them to leave, a task that was overwhelming and largely ineffective. Parents stopped allowing their children at the playground and some stopped letting them even come to the facility as they would need to pass through these groupings of men on their way. This was a serious problem that needed a solution! In addition to this much of the playground equipment had been designed eight years ago and we were badly in need of some maintenance and upgrades.

and lastly…

The house that many people know as Joaquina’s mail house was in horrible disrepair and had been abandoned for more than a year. It was dangerous and an eyesore, was serving as a urinal for the gathering men and although part of the history of the bodegas.. it needed to be taken down or completely remodeled.

SO.. IN LATE MAY 2016 WE DECIDED TO UPGRADE THE PLAYGROUND, REMODEL THE FRONT OF THE FACILITY AND REDESIGN THE CORNER MAIL HOUSE…

This project has been partially funded by S-trip corporation and has been supported by the work of volunteers but we need more support to finish the playground construction. Please consider donating to this project. Contact nicole@entreamigos.org.mx for more information.